Why Is Gilbert So Quiet
by storieteller
Summary: Sara learns that English was not Grissom's first language. Family Fic w/o preggos. SPOILER "The Two Mrs. Grissoms"


Sara learns that English was not Grissom's first language.

SPOILER: "The Two Mrs. Grissoms" I do not own CSI; I just borrow their characters because I can't come up with better ones on my own.

Information about the deaf culture is based on my deaf college professor.

No Betas checking my work. I'm dyslexic, so bear with me. Please review.

**CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI CSI**

It was the afternoon. They had work in a few hours, so Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle decided to hide out at home for a while. No phones, no business; just some quiet time together. Sara sat on the couch flipping through her ASL dictionary. She attempted to sign "forensic investigator" as Grissom headed toward her. He sat down next to her and smiled. He quietly took her hands and corrected her.

"Close enough." Sara said with a smirk. Grissom guided Sara by the hand into his arms. He held her for a moment, just taking in the scene. Sara sat up and turned to Grissom with a thoughtful look on her face.

'How do the deaf think?" She asked.

"With their minds?" Grissom joked.

"No. I mean, if they never heard words, and they don't speak, how do they process their thoughts?" Sara asked.

"They sign." Grissom answered. Before Sara could ask her next question, Gil answered:

"And everyone signs in their dreams."

"Oh." Sara replied. Grissom smiled. Grissom huffed a laugh to himself. "What?" Sara asked.

"When mother and father married," Grissom began "my dad promised mom that she'd never have to work a day in her life. So when I came along, dad went to work and mom stayed home with me. She taught me everything I could handle."

"Figures." Sara interjected. Grissom shot Sara his Grissom stare. Sara smiled back.

"Anyway, when I was almost two, my paternal grandmother came to visit for the first time…"

**CSICSICSICSICSICSI**

_Marina Del Rey, CA – Grissom Residence, 1958_

Harrison Grissom sat in the kitchen watching his wife prepare dinner. Tonight was special. It was the first time his mother would get to see not only their new home, but their son: Gilbert Arthur. Harry knew his son was just as brilliant as Harry had been at that age. Just then, Harry's chubby little two year old came running up to his mother and hugged her side.

"Mommy!" Gil signed. He made sure to differentiate the sign 'mommy' from 'mother' by wiggling his fingers off from his chin. Betty turned to Gil and smiled.

"Wash your hands and face. Your grandmother will be here soon." She replied. Gil nodded and ran off to the bathroom. The doorbell rang and Harry got up.

"Mom's here" He signed to Betty. Betty wiped her hands clean and fixed her hair. She quickly removed her apron and followed Harry to the front door.

"Mom! Dad!" Harry called out as his parent entered.

Harry's parents took off their jackets and walked into the living room. Harry's mother, Shirley had brown curly hair, just like her son. Her eyes were green and she had put on a few pounds since the last time Harry had seen her. His father, Joe had jet black hair and wore a suit.

"What's the occasion?" Harry joked to his father. Normally, Joe wore worn jeans a dress shirt. He never saw his father wear a suit, not even to his college graduation ceremony.

"Wanted to impress the misses. Betty, how are ya?" Joe said, taking Betty into his arms and wrapped her in a hug. Betty smiled and signed:

"Hello Joe. Nice to see you."

_**LATER**_

After dinner and pleasantries were covered, the family sat down to enjoy the local news hour. Joe was dozing off and Harry signed the top stories to Betty.

But Shirley paid no attention to the others. She stared at Gilbert. Gil was playing with a small toy frog Harry had built him a year ago. The frog was as big as Gil's head and made of an old blanket.

"Harry." Shirley said. "Why doesn't Gilbert speak?"

Harry turned to his mother with a quizzical look on his face.

"What do you mean? He can speak." Harry protested.

"Okay, but why doesn't he? I've seen him sign, but he doesn't talk." Shirley explained. Harry turned to Gil.

"Gil, come over here." He asked. Gil promptly stood walked to his father. Harry took his hand and said "Say something."

Gil signed: "What?"

Harry shook his head.

"No, _say_ something." He said. Gil signed _what_ once again. Harry and Betty looked at one another. With a grave look on their faces, they signed/said:

"I thought you were going to teach him that."

"Really!" She signed. Harry turned to Gil.

"You can't speak." He stated to Gil. Gil just stood there and looked at his father. Harry turned back to his wife. "Oh, crap."

****

_Present – Las Vegas_

Sara lay on the couch holding her sides from laughing.

"Sara—" Grissom tried to interrupt. After giving her a moment to get it out of her system, Gil tried again. "Sara!" Sara composed herself enough to ask:

"How did they not notice?"

"My mother thought my father was teaching and my father didn't think about it. When I signed back to him, he assumed that I was being respectful and keeping my mother in the conversation." He explained. "It took my dad about six months to teach me how to speak. I was a little slow at it, but he made sure to have my grandmother call while he was at work, just to keep me in practice."

Sara sat up and smiled at Grissom.

"So do you think in sign language or do you talk to yourself?" She asked.

"When I was very little, I used to sign. It turned into speaking soon after I learned to talk." Gil explained. Sara shook her head and began to sign:

"So that's why you're so quiet."


End file.
